The organization that oversees internet domain names has rejected a proposal to create a .xxx domain for adult websites, reports CNET.
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, rejected the proposal from ICM Registry. That firm has sought to become the registry service for adult sites. ICANN said in its statement that the .xxx domain would not address regulatory concerns but would cause international compliance issues.

Some say an .xxx domain would create a thriving community that would police itself. Others, though, see a separate domain as a scarlet letter shunning them from ever being accepted by the mainstream.

The ICANN vote rejecting the proposal was 9 to 5.